Inspiration for the garden ...

I have always loved green spaces & have gardened wherever life has taken me across many countries. 

Our Shropshire garden is a modest, urban space that I love.  I have planted loads of green plants over the almost 2 decades we have been in this house because I enjoy looking out over greens in winter when it is grey & bleak. 

Lush planting also softens urban sounds, making gardens more private so you can enjoy the space without your conversations travelling across fences.  The dense planting allows you to share the space with wildlife, & that is always entertaining. 

I am still coaxing a side hedge to grow because the far side neighbour cut down a mature hedge a year ago & this has been the second summer of living with a gap that I am keen to fill.

 I saw a social media post that Wollerton Old Hall Gardens will soon be closing after the summer & it jolted my memory that I have not visited it for perhaps 3 years. I used to travel out to that part of Shropshire weekly to students, but since the 3 sisters have outgrown lessons, it is rare that I go there so I seized the free morning to head out & visit the nearby gardens. 

They are often featured on gardening programmes, in magazines & on shows because they are so inspirational. 

I got there at opening time which means there were not as many people about & that makes for better photos & a quieter meander which suits me well. 

The gardens are laid out in sections / rooms, some formal with neatly clipped shapes, balls & trees, other sections a riot of colour, always ordered but planted for impact. 

There are benches in various spots to sit & take in the beauty. The summer house has a view in two directions, lamps on the table & I can imagine the owners enjoying their garden as the light softens in the evening. They are then free to enjoy their space without visitors ... 

They grow salvias in many colours & varieties, from dainty to tall ones - planted en masse so there is a profusion of colour amidst the arching stems. I need to be bolder, I definitely need way more plants.  

What really struck me again was what I would call the jewel garden - vivid yellows, oranges, magenta,  hot colours side by side with purples & blues that set them off so well.  I need more yellows & oranges in the garden at home. 

I had a wonderful couple of hours, taking photos, getting inspiration & buying some more salvias to give pops of colour. I need to make my borders deeper, fuller & more colourful next year. 

What a great morning on my own, just being inspired by this beautiful space. I am planning some changes in the garden, I just need an abundance of plants. 

Thank you for stopping by, how is your outdoor space doing? 

Dee 🌺💐🌼🥀🪻🏡🪏🪴

A little felting morning ...

It has been almost a decade since I took my first felting course & it unlocked a new world of interesting creative times. 

Since then I have felted several projects & it is something that is immediate & enjoyable. I did a series of sunflowers in blue & yellow in regard to the Ukrainian crisis. 

My cousin & I also felted a heather landscape together last year because it was new  to her & she did very well. 

This week, our local haberdashery shop had a felting workshop & I made time to attend. 

We do need to hone our skills regularly; as a life long educator, I love courses & learning off others too. 

I was the only one out of the 6 of us who had previously done any felting but with Lou's excellent guidance, all were soon jabbing away at the little project, inspired by her example. 

We had all opted to have the additional kit, so we all started with exactly the same selection of felt colours & threads to use for embroidery embellishment. 

One of the ladies suggested adding in a sheep & so sheep were added to the little countryside scene. 

My mind went blank & even though I had felted sheep previously, mine were not good & they will be sorted at home. Felt is very forgiving & you can remove it by pulling on it or, as I did, felt over to change the shape. 

That is what I love about felting - it is forgiving.  

I am confident in a variety of embroidery stitches & everyone helped each other out with a quick refresh so it passed in no time. 

Lou had little frames to show off our work. The little frame is useful to have it out in the craft space at home. It was an enjoyable time with like minded people & we all had something that was complete or almost complete.

We all encouraged Lou to do another felting day.  

It is more fun to do as a group activity too because working together is great for creativity & to be able to bounce ideas off each other.  

I had to sort out my sheep at home so they look more like sheep than sheep dogs.  

This is a previous one I did & so I had to do some remedial work on mine. 

However it was great fun to do something with some guidance & a different approach - that is always useful. 

While sorting out my sheep at home, I decided to add a few beads to the fly stitched field. I love the way they just catch the light & the fly stitches look like a field of flowers. 

Does anyone else find it really tricky to thread the beading needles with the tiny eye? Any technique suggestions will be welcome. 

Who else loves courses as much as I do? Always lovely to have you stop by the blog, 

Dee 🪡📍🧵🐏🐑

Traditional pipe making skills ...

Just a century ago, smoking a pipe was a common sight with smaller plain pipes smoked by the masses while more intricate ones were a status sign. The bowls were small because tobacco was expensive.

Clay pipes were also quite fragile, they needed you to take time to fill them up from a tobacco pouch, tamp them down, then light them, not a quick process.  

The first world war brought about a change to cigarettes that travelled well with soldiers & pipe manufacture declined over time. 

Broseley Clay & Pipeworks is a fairly local one -I noted that they were open as part of a Heritage Weekend so we went off for a much needed return visit. 

 I last visited about 20 years ago & because part of the Museum is besides private 1 up 1 down cottages, it is not open too often. 

It is humbling to stand in the museum part of the 1 up, 1 down cottage & know that an entire family of parents & perhaps 6 or more children lived in these tiny spaces with just a fireplace for cooking in the downstairs room. 

It makes us look at our large homes with fresh eyes & appreciation of how life has changed in just a century. 

This clay pipe works was abandoned in 1960, shut up shop with unfired pipes still in their saggars, orders still packed, equipment left as it was & it became a time capsule of the industry. The buildings needed extensive remedial work when they were brought in to use as a museum & their listed status guarantees their future. The little glass office in the image below was where all the paperwork was done in, a window open on to the street behind where the wares were collected or sent on from. 

These little industries were essential work & the prestige of this small pipe maker meant that clay pipes were often just called 'The Broseleys' after the place they were made & the pipes were sent to far flung places that the workers could never even dream of.  Pipes had been made in this area from about 1600. Local clay was used but it was a creamy colour so white clay was brought up the nearby Severn River from Devon & this was seen as better quality. The cast iron pipe moulds were made in the metal works & fired in the numerous furnaces along the Severn River where the world famous Ironbridge of 1779 was cast. It was fortuitous to use what was available. 

Touring the small space with a very knowledgeable volunteer was very interesting as her grandmother & great grandmother & great aunt all worked there in their time. She had photos of them at the pipe works, smartly dressed & neatly turned out.  They were paid per full saggar (firing pot) of pipes they made. It was precise work with long hours & poor pay but options were limited so people took up whatever employment they could. Their records show that one worker made 1,056 pipes a week. 

The low ceilings, small rooms, poorly lit spaces make you appreciate the working conditions of people. Pipes had been made in Broseley since the early 1600's, a highly prized industry.

It was a fascinating return visit of a time when smoking was mainstream & there was a huge demand for such items. 

There is much beauty in the lines of beautifully made pipes laid out on the tables & in the saggars as they would have been when prepared for firing in the kilns at 1000C, then the time spent cooling before they could be taken out - a process of about 5 days. 

A full kiln held 60-70 gross of pipes which was 8,640 to 10,080 pipes per firing. 

Good honest work was what happened in these little places ... 

I hope you have enjoyed the visit with me, thank you for stopping by, 

Dee 

A fruity lamb tagine ...

 There is a decided chill to the morning & evening air & thoughts turn to warming stews or tagines. Southern African cooking uses fruit in meat dishes which reflects the Malay heritage influences at the Cape 300 years ago. 

Some years back, Ms M (my sister in law & often travelling companion) & I did a fantastic tour of Morocco & the food was just sensational. The aroma from the tagines filled the markets & dining-rooms & it was inspirational combinations of sweet & savoury. 

These are some of the memories of that trip 

Exploring-moroccan-city-of-fes-fez

Time-stands-still-in-bakery-in-Al Jadida

jardin-majorelle-ysl-gardens-in Marrakech

The-portuguese-port-of-Al-Jadida-in Morocco

Making-time-to-travel-explore-new places

I have cooked from Tagine, Spicy stews from Morocco by Ghillie Basan many times over the years. Having some lamb in, I decided a fruity tagine would be perfect. I used lamb chops, not a shoulder of lamb & adjusted the recipe to take in to account the smaller portion. 

The meat was marinated in fresh garlic & ginger (grated), salt, chilli, cumin, olive oil, honey & half a freshly squeezed lemon. I cut an onion in  to the mixture & this was left in a bowl in the fridge for about 3 hours. 

The marinated lamb was fried to brown it, I added the onion & then lastly the remains of the marinade to the pan. This was then returned to the oven dish (I no longer have a tagine but a deep covered ceramic dish worked well.)

At this point I added about 8 prunes & some hot water, covered the dish & baked it for about 45 minutes. Lastly, I stirred in 2 quartered fresh figs & covered it while I made the cous cous. 

150g of cous cous in 250 ml of salted boiling water in a heat proof bowl. Cover & leave to absorb the liquid, stirred in a small knob of butter & fluffed it up. 

Served with the lamb on the cous cous base, alongside some garlic flatbread. The stew had formed a delicious rich dish that was perfect for cooler weather & it reminded me how much I enjoy fruity stews. 

I hope I am not the only one who enjoys spicy & fruity food. Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated. 

Dee 

A hearty plum & apple crumble …

Our weather turned very wet yesterday & having friends for a midweek supper, I decided it was crumble time for pudding.

I had some juicy fresh plums & apples in the fridge so they were perfect for baking.

I love a substantial crumble topping so just winged it.

Cut up the plums - I used 5, cut in pieces, pits taken out

4 eating apples, core taken out & each half sliced into about 6 slices

A few bits of crystallised ginger - cut up & dotted about the fruits, a little water (about 50ml) over the fruit in the bowl for a little liquid.

The crumble was made with

120g butter & about 75g Demerara sugar, mixed together

I measured 200g of flour, oats, coconut into a bowl & rubbed it into the butter & sugar mixture to form large crumbles because I think they are far nicer. 

The crumble was scattered over the fruit & baked at about 180c till golden brown.

Served hot with ice cream or cream. 

It was absolutely delicious using just what I already had at home. We ate in the conservatory with my favourite pink & green table setting - they are all things I love & have had for years.  

The ones on the sideboard are IKEA ones that are cheerful & colourful (& affordable) from some years back. 

The pinks & greens are lovely summer colours & I have enjoyed them, in various combinations, for weeks now. 

What is your favourite fruit combinations? Do tell …

Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated. 

Dee 🧈📖👩‍🍳

Experimenting with reverse appliqué

 In the past week I have seen the sewing technique of reverse appliqué demonstrated by this sewer.

It is a new technique for me & I was keen to have a go. This week my social media memories popped up of a visit to Transylvania 3 years ago. 

While in Romania at Bran castle, I photographed an art piece with winged angel shapes.

I drew it then scanned it onto tracing paper (glue tracing paper on printing paper by just dotting a bit of glue on each corner so it goes through the printer.)

I cut out 4 different linen fabrics, then tacked them together around the edge to keep them together. 

I pinned the traced sheet on to the top layer & then sewed on the lines with black no 8 Perl cotton. Because of the 4 layers, I could not do a long line of stitches because you have to stitch through all 4 layers. I worked out that back stitch was easier most of the time. 

Once all the lines were done, the tracing paper tore away easily to reveal the black lines. 

The technique is to cut the sections through the layers so I cut 1layer on 2 wings to reveal blue linen, cut through 2 layers on another 2 wings to reveal pink linen, then the last 2 wings were cut through 3 layers to reveal the dark brown linen. 

Linen doesn’t give sharp lines but it is effective & a technique I would approach it differently next time by tracing the outline on a light top layer instead of using tracing paper. 

That should make the sewing lines neater & give a sharper edge. 

I will try another one as it is an interesting technique with creative possibilities.

Have you tried .this & what hints do you have for me? Thank you for stopping by & supporting my blog, 

Dee 🏰🪡📍

A challenging goldwork embroidery gift ....

Some months back, my friend & I did a workshop in our county town of Shrewsbury as an introduction to goldwork embroidery.  It was a relaxing day getting some understanding of goldwork embroidery. The technique we used was just couching - laying down gold threads & couching over with threads to hold the shape. It is a technique I use for various threads & it is relaxing. 

However, from background research online before that course, I knew that goldwork is much more complex, often used in intricate religious & ceremonial garments & it is a specialised field. 

I bought a book to better understand the techniques & various threads used, but other than a brief read, it was not studied. 

My talented friend & neighbour who makes the most amazing beaded miniature books surprised me with a goldwork kit for my birthday in April, as a follow-up to the workshop I had done a few days before. 

I must admit to being rather overwhelmed when I opened it & found an array of gold threads, beads, & instructions that were rather challenging. I  put it aside & thought - this will take careful work to even find out what each thread & instruction is for. 

This weekend, being a long one here, I decided now or never; I had postured enough. 

I have my creative space & machines in a spare room that I have taken over & so I laid out the contents of the goldwork kit & spent a lot of time deciding which threads are which - rough or smooth purl, pearl purl, leather, bright check. passing thread, beads & more.  Once they were laid out on the right section of the instructions, it felt more ordered & manageable. 

Fortunately I have an embroidery stand that is essential when you need your hands free. 

Mine has a  small board that you can peg instructions to - essential at such times as these when following instructions is the only way to see a way forward with unfamiliar techniques. 

I have not really used silk so putting in grid stitching to hold it to the backing fabric was interesting. 

Then the pattern was traced, then pinned to the hooped fabrics, running stitches around all the shapes, the tracing paper then torn away to leave just the outline stitches. 

That took much longer than I thought it would ... 

Then the process of following each & every instruction in order to couch the stems with the really fiddly pulling back of the threads at the end of each section so they are not visible at the front. 

Tracing & adding felt to part of the flower shapes, then beading it by cutting some of the wire - I think I made mine a little big but it worked out even though it was fiddly. 

The gold leather shapes on the flowers needed a thimble to get the fine needle through the leather & keep it neat. Gold beads on part of the shapes followed before the shapes were outlined with the stretchy bright check wire. I worked through the order of things & on the second day was relieved that the progress was good. 

Finally after about 10 hours of stitching, cutting, threading multiple needles, the last stitches went in & I could un-hoop it & decided what next. There is a carboard backing board, but perhaps I will just hoop it for now until I decide how I want to display it. 

It is easily the most challenging sewing I have done, & it requires very nimble sewing & an awareness of several techniques & use of threads & wires. 

It is a massive relief to say it is done, I did it after putting it off for weeks because of the unknown nature of the techniques. 

My friend Diane is a City & Guilds embroidery & her stitching is precise, mine is good but she is way too generous to say anything other than be complimentary. 

I feel a sense of relief & pride that I completed this rather challenging gift & I am in  awe of the work of guild people who do intricate goldwork. 

It is a real skill, one which  I don't have, but then again, I have never studied embroidery formally. 

Do you also procrastinate when challenged until you have to step up? Thank you for stopping by, please subscribe & share - it is much appreciated. 

Dee 🪡📍📖

Tracing the enigmatic footsteps of T.E. Lawrence in Dorset

 I have heard the story from my late father in law of him watching Thomas Edward Lawrence (T.E. Lawrence / Lawrence of Arabia) travel down the road past the old Dorset family home for years. He told how he used to sit on the brick front wall & watch T.E drive past & waving to him. What Johnnie didn't tell was that it was his Father TG who rode out with T.E Lawrence & that it was something they both enjoyed doing. 

Hubbies Great grandfather TG was pictured on his motor cycle with great grandma sitting side ways on the back, locally  in the lanes of Walditch. 

While in Dorset for a few days, I asked if a trip to Moreton could be on  the cards for Sunday because it is actually somewhere I had not been to even though it was not far from the county town of Dorchester that I have visited dozens of times over the years. 

That is how we came to visit Moreton, close to Bovington where T.E. Lawrence was stationed after his famous Lawrence of Arabia time when he had an ambivalent attitude to the fame that followed him. 

Grandfather TG had kept dozens of newspaper articles on him & we read them with interest. 

One said this of his attitude to fame:

He was once described as the type of man who would feign embarrassment if he walked in to a party & people recognised him - but stand on his head if no one did. 

St Nicolas Church Moreton is very special; a church has stood on that site since 1190. Its popularity is largely because of 2 persons named Lawrence / Laurence - the 13 Laurence Whistler engraved glass windows & the grave of Lawrence of Arabia, T.E Lawrence. 

The church suffered a direct bomb hit in 1940, losing the north wall & windows & being out of action for some time. 

The 12th century font remained standing amidst the rubble. 

Sir Laurence Whistler - the Father of Glass engraving - etched all 12 windows inside the church & the 13th panel - the Forgiveness Window, was the last addition. That is best viewed from outside.

The bright sunshine made the details on the windows harder to see & some were better viewed from outside. They are all very special windows.

There are impressive Minton encaustic tiles in the apse with 5 sets of 3 panel engraved windows in the circular space. 

T.E. Lawrence enrolled incognito as a private soldier - T.E. Shaw, at the nearby Bovington Camp to escape the notoriety that followed him after Arabia. 

He lived at the modest Clouds Hill house nearby so this was his local church. 

T.E Lawrence died in a motor cycle accident near Clouds Hill & his funeral was held in this church. It was attended by Winston & Clementine Churchill, G.B. Shaw & others.  T.E had served as an advisor to Churchill in the 1920's so they were well acquainted. 

Hubbies Great grandfather TG attended the funeral & there is a photo of him at the graveside. 

After visiting the church, we made our way to the grave, it is immaculately maintained because of his fame. I wonder what he would have made of the steady stream of people making the pilgrimage in his memory? 

It was very interesting walking in the history of T.E Lawrence & the shared history of great grandfather TG. I still want to visit Clouds Hill but that will be on another visit. I also need to watch the iconic Lawrence of Arabia movie with Peter O' Toole. 

I hope this has been interesting too, thank you for your company, 

Dee  ⛪️🌳🏡 🚙 

Quick cheese scones

 It is one of those wet afternoons when I am whittling my way through my book stash. Reading in the bright conservatory is my favourite time, listening to the rain on the roof. 

The rain brought on memories of my childhood when my  mother would bake scones for us to come home to on wet days on the Highveld in South Africa. 

This is my quick recipe that is quick to make 

250g (1 cup) self raising flour

1 rounded tsp baking powder

40 g butter 

1 large egg & milk made up to 100ml

grated cheese & mustard powder

Preheat the oven to 200C (fan) while you are busy making up the scones

Rub the butter & self raising powder together till it looks like breadcrumbs. Add in the baking powder, mustard powder, & most of the egg & milk mixture, keeping back just a little for brushing the tops with. Lightly mix in some grated cheese if you like (about 80g, I didn't weigh mine)

Turn out on to a lightly floured surface (I used a silicone tray what worked really well), pat down to a thick shape & cut in to about 6 - 8 scones. (I used a medium cutter & got 7 scones. 

Brush the tops with the leftover egg & milk then bake in the centre of the oven for about 10-12 minutes. I use a silicone mat from Ikea that makes baking so easy as nothing sticks. 

Turn out, make some coffee & enjoy with butter & more cheese.

I hope  you make some too ... 

Dee 🧈🪺🥞☕️